Power slowly returns to Columbus

April 27, 2011 10:01:00 PM

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Power was slowly being restored to areas of Columbus Wednesday night, allaying rumors that problems with TVA''s grid would knock out power for four or more days. Still, power came on sporadically and was spotty in areas.

Service was reported back on in Caledonia even as TVA warned that the full extent of outages wouldn''t even be assessed, much less repaired, by morning. Hours later, power flicked back on in some, but not all, areas of Columbus.

Power remained out in Starkville at 10 p.m.

Power went down across the Golden Triangle as tornadoes touched down to the north and south of Columbus. Power was out in Starkville, Columbus and West Point as of 5 p.m.

Emergency officials said that TVA was conducting an assessment, and it was unclear when power would return.

Officials said many areas in TVA''s service area from Amory south to Philadelphia were without power.

Widespread damage was reported from tornadoes in Smithville, Wren, Amory and Okolona in north Mississippi.

A TVA transmission line serving north Mississippi, or equipment at a TVA substation, were damaged during the storms. TVA confirmed that multiple power lines were down to areas serving Mississippi.